More than one billion animals have been killed during Australia’s bushfire disaster, according to an ecologist from the University of Sydney. The ecologist, Chris Dickman, told HuffPost that his initial estimate of 480 million dead animals is now out of date and that he can say that more than one billion animals have been killed “without any doubt at all.” Dickman said: “The original figure—the 480 million—was based on mammals, birds, and reptiles for which we do have densities, and that figure now is a little bit out of date. It’s over 800 million given the extent of the fires now, in New South Wales alone.” He went on to say that, if other animals such as bats, frogs, and invertebrates were included, the number far exceeds a billion. An environmental scientist at the World Wildlife Fund Australia, Stuart Blanch, agreed with the estimate, saying a billion was a modest guess. It’s been reported that Australian officials will be forced to kill thousands of camels in the northwest because they’re consuming too much water.
